Red Devils prepared for NewportATKINS -- It's never a bad thing to be practicing football on Thanksgiving. For Red Devils head coach Tommy Cody, it's a sign you're team is doing something right. Atkins (9-2-1) hosts the (10-2) Newport Greyhounds tonight at Sorrels Stadium at Lemley field. Cody described the Greyhounds as "the fastest team we've faced all season." "They're probably the most athletic," he said. "They're a really good football team, although they are a very yo...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Did you know?Friday's Class 6A semifinal game against the Benton Panthers could be a chance to right past wrongs. The Panthers knocked Russellville from the playoffs in 2012 and 2013. In 2012, Benon's All-State running back Wallace Foote, who went on to play for Arkansas Tech University, accounted for 645 yards during the Panthers' 53-34 win at Cyclone Stadium. In 2013, Benton won 36-35 on a fake field goal on the final play of regulation. This year, the C...

Ryan George named CSI Participant of the MonthCommunity Service First Tee Participant of the Month Community Service, Inc. (CSI) has named Ryan George as the First Tee Participant of the month for November. Ryan attends Upper Elementary Fifth Grade in Russellville is the son of Melissa Feltner and Steve George. "Ryan comes with to class with a positive attitude and a great sense of humor; you can always count on Ryan to crack a joke during class," said Sam Taylor, CSI First Tee Coach. "He...

Lady Wildcats outgun DoverDOVER -- The Hector Lady Wildcats took down the Dover Lady Pirates 52-43 on Tuesday inside Pirate Gymnasium. Hector led 16-13 after the first quarter and 31-21 at halftime. After the third quarter, the Lady Wildcats were up 39-33. Hector was led in scoring by Darci Fountain and Paige Lee with 13 points each. Cassidy Haley scored 11 points. Dover was led by Kelsi Hottinger, who scored 16 points. Hector SG 39, Atkins 34 HECTOR -- The Lady Wildca...

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Courier sports staffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Pirates get home win, 47-44DOVER -- The Dover Lady Pirates grabbed a 47-44 win over the Lavaca Lady Golden Arrows on Tuesday inside Pirate Gymnasium. "This was another hard-fought battle and after some big adjustments at halftime, we were fortunate to come out with a win," Lady Pirates head coach Charlie Melton said. "We were very proud of our girls showing a lot of pride in the second half." The score was tied 12-12 after the first quarter, and Dover trailed 24-18 at h...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

McClure's career night lifts Golden SunsA shift in offensive strategy in the second quarter yielded an 83-66 Arkansas Tech University non-conference women's basketball victory over Oklahoma Christian University at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Tuesday night. Facing a 2-3 zone defense, the Golden Suns began routing their offense through guard Kelsey McClure at the high post. Soon after, Tech went on an 11-0 run over a span of 2:32 to open up a 35-24 lead. The Suns (3-1) went on ...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Lizards drum Lady Bulldogs, 52-23WALDRON -- The Dardanelle Lady Sand Lizards defeated the Waldron Lady Bulldogs 52-23 on Monday. "Our kids did a great job of competing tonight," Lady Sand Lizards head coach Kenny McCoy said. "I am proud of the effort the girls gave in practice last week in preparation for tonight's game. I loved how hard we played all four quarters tonight. "We still have several things we need to improve on, and I know our girls will come to practice and pus...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Força Martial Arts & Fitness wins medals at stateRussellville's Força Martial Arts & Fitness competition team won over 20 medals at the American Grappling Federation's Arkansas State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships, held Nov. 5 at the Conway Expo Center in Conway. In addition to the 20 individual medals, the Força team, part of the Living Defense Martial Arts group led by 3rd Degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Danny Dring, also took honors for the most overall team points in both of the...

One elk tests positive for CWDJASPER -- One elk from the 52 taken so far in 2016 has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The elk, harvested in southwestern Searcy County on private land, was a 2.5-year old bull taken during the elk management assistance program quota hunt. According to Wes Wright, elk program coordinator, all samples from the public land hunts were found to have no evidence of CWD. The AGFC is still waiting on results from all other samples taken ...

Lady Apaches cross country takes third in 4AThe Pottsville Lady Apaches cross country team finished third in the Class 4A State Cross Country Meet. Skylar Campbell, who received All-State honors led the way with a fifth-place finish. Campbell ran in 21:16.40. Shannon Lasey, who also got an All-State nod, finished eighth in 21:38.60. Apaches runner Jacob Mills finished 16th and received All-State honors.

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Courier sports staffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

It's a time for all to be thankfulFirst and foremost, we should all be thankful that we have the privilege of living in the greatest country on the face of the earth. We are blessed to live in a country where we not only have the right to be free, but the right to enjoy life's simple pleasures such as hunting, fishing and spending time in the great outdoors. Many of us take those rights for granted, but in many countries there are no such rights, and the things that we gain so...

Elk from Searcy County tests positive for CWDJASPER -- One elk from the 52 taken so far in 2016 has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The elk, harvested in southwestern Searcy County on private land, was a 2.5-year old bull taken during the elk management assistance program quota hunt. According to Wes Wright, elk program coordinator, all samples from the public land hunts were found to have no evidence of CWD. The AGFC is still waiting on results from all other samples taken ...

Atkins escapes Harmony Grove, 20-17ATKINS -- The Atkins Red Devils defeated the Haskell Harmony Grove Cardinals 20-17 in the second round of the Class 3A State Tournament on Friday at Sorrels Stadium at Lemley Field. The Red Devils (9-2) trailed 17-14 will under two minutes left in the game, but good clock management and a touchdown pass from Seth Haney to Parker Sweet put Atkins on top with 20 seconds left in the game. After a scoreless first half, the Cardinals (7-6) started ...

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BY GREGORY L. BRADEN
For The CourierThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Whirlwinds 3rd in home tourneyThe Russellville Junior High Lady Whirlwinds finished third in the Whirlwind Tournament on Thursday at Cyclone Arena after defeating the North Little Rock Junior Lady Charging Wildcats 44-28. "We responded very well to a poor shooting night from yesterday and took our frustration out on NLR," Russellville head coach Chase White said after the game. "We came out very aggressive and moved the ball well on offense, which resulted in some easy sho...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Cyclones advance to semifinalsThe Russellville Cyclones became the third football team in school history to win 10 games in a single season on Friday with a 34-7 victory over the West Memphis Blue Devils at Cyclone Stadium. Cyclones head coach Billy Dawson reminded his team of as much after the dust settled. "The other teams were in 1962 and 2001," he said. "So think about that, in all 100-and-something years of Russellville football, only three have won 10 games, and you'...

Wonder Boys win GAC debut led by WilliamsMontrell Williams scored 27 points in his Arkansas Tech University debut to lead the Wonder Boys to an 84-67 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Great American Conference men's basketball action at Tucker Coliseum on Thursday night. Williams, a junior transfer from Northwest Kansas Technical College, made 11-of-16 field goal tries and 3-of-5 attempts from 3-point range. "Especially in the first half when we were struggling to sc...

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BY SAM STRASNER
arkansastechnews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

ATU volleyball season ends in GAC quarterfinalsHOT SPRINGS -- Hunter Eshnaur turned in a 17-kill effort, while Madison Nagel had 16 digs and Amanda Milnick dished out 37 assists, but the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns volleyball team (21-12) fell short in its quarterfinal matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma (14-16), falling 3-1 on Thursday at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Coach bayer says "I thought that we played hard and gave all of our effort tonight, but we were high-error and didn't take ad...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley